


Warnings

by night_is_where_the_romance_is



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-24 04:46:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7494348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/night_is_where_the_romance_is/pseuds/night_is_where_the_romance_is
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merritt, Dylan, Danny, and Grandma (and Li) decide that they all need to have a little talk with Jack about his relationship with Lula.</p>
<p>Of course, they don't all address each other in that they're having this little talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Merritt

Merritt needed to have a talk with Jack.

Lula was, in short, his partner in crime. They were both the kind of jokers who made people crack up so they couldn't see the tears. The second she had come in, breaking into Danny's apartment, stealing Jack's wallet and belt, Merritt knew that he liked this girl, this twin to his odd sense of humor. Lula understood Merritt.

And when Jack and Lula became a couple that was already sickening-sweet to watch (they curled up together on the couch, had a war on who could steal the most random objects from each other without them noticing, and pranked the other like there was no tomorrow), Merritt didn't want to see Lula get hurt. She didn't show it, but he knew Lula felt like the odd one out - Danny sometimes still acted like it was just the three of them (as he refused to address his issues after Henley left), Dylan had just slapped her into the group like a replacement, and they all had a series of inside jokes that came with being on the run and in hiding for a good two years. If Jack hurt her, really hurt her, she would leave. Merritt didn't want that to happen again.

So he decided to have a little talk with Mr. Wilder and voice his concerns (read: threat).

"Jack, can you run me through that trick one more time?" Merritt called across the kitchen. They'd continued their lessons after New Year's, and Jack had been walking him through advanced card throwing. 

"Sure thing," he answered, demonstrating how he slid the card over his knuckles before slipping it into his hand, then snapping out his wrist for the seven of spades to cut through the air, shearing to a stop on the rim of Merritt's hat. 

"Alright, Jackie-boy, no need to show off, alright?"  


"Only I call him Jackie-boy, Mer," Lula's voice floated down from the balcony above them, where she was training yet another dove. How many doves she held in the pockets of her coat (among other places) was still a mystery to the rest. "If you do it you just sound like a creeper."

"You heard the lady," Jack laughed, as Lula batted her eyelashes and blew a kiss down, then continued on with the bird in her hand. "Now come on Mer, you can do this in your sleep."

"Do you mean that you can do it in your sleep?" Danny interjected from his place at the table, drinking a milkshake while reading on his laptop.

"Ten bucks says that Lula had to make Jack stop throwing cards in bed," Merritt replied, earning a snort from Danny and a spray of coffee out of the mouth from Dylan. 

"Merritt, come on, you can do this trick. You did almost the exact same one in the vault, you can do this now."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, sliding the card over his hand like Jack had shown him. Snap the wrist, and the card should fly, he repeated to himself mentally, flicking his hand out for the card to flutter to the ground, a slow descent like a dying butterfly.

"Uh," Jack said, trying to find a way to spin it, Merritt could tell. "That was -"

"Pathetic?" Danny said, smirking around the straw of his shake, frosty strawberry goodness sliding up obnoxiously.

"Better," Jack said, laying emphasis to ignore Danny upon his words, "than before."

"Yeah, Atlas was right, I know." Merritt grumbled, bending over to retrieve the cards that had gathered in a small mound on the ground after his countless attempts. "Let's just call it a day, Jack. Let me regain some of my dignity before I lose it all." 

"Now that's a trick I'd like to see," Danny said, sucking loudly at the bottom of his empty takeout cup. 

"And on that note," Dylan interrupted, grabbing Danny's shoulder and hauling him out of the chair, leaving the two men alone in the kitchen. 

Jack was turning to leave, snatching a spare card off the table when Merritt spoke. "Hey Wilder, hold up a sec?"

"Sure man, what's up?" he said, looking confused. His eyebrows raised higher than anyone had ever seen when Merritt reached over to the door leading outside for the balcony to hear and closed it ominously. "Uh, what's going on? You're kind of creeping me out right now."

"It's about Lula," Merritt said bluntly, snapping Jack's attention to him. "I like the two of you together, as much as I tease you. And I like her. She's a good person, Jack. And I don't want to see her get hurt."

Jack's face softened, and he gave a slow nod. "I get it, everyone loves her. Even Atlas. Hell, this is the fourth little 'talk' I've had this week, that's how much everyone loves her."

"Fourth?" It was only Tuesday.

"Dylan first, then Atlas, which was a surprise, then Grandma and Li tag-teamed me, and now you."

"Damn," Merritt said, impressed. He'd suspected Dylan, because well, he was Dylan, and Grandma had had a bet with Merritt to when the two would get together. But Atlas? That was interesting. "I'm deducing that you're a little tired of these talks. I would be too. I just don't want to see her at the bar on her fifth glass when everyone else is looking for her, because she ran. None of us do."

"I don't either," Jack said, sounding serious. "I get that all of you love her. And you know, you weren't the only one getting lessons. Reading people, the thing you spent a good six months teaching me? Dylan sees us all as a family, Grandma and Li too. Atlas doesn't want us to get broken up again, like when Henley left. And you see her like a sister, because you have the same jokes and weird habit of stealing Atlas' password and changing it by one letter."

Merritt tried to conceal a smile, he thought Lula and him were the only one's who knew about that. 

"All of us have done it at least once. Give us some credit, please. I get that you guys don't want her to get hurt, and I get that she feels like a reject sometimes. But I care about her, I really do. I don't want to see that happen ever, maybe more than any of you. So I don't need to hear another speech."

Merritt was a little shell-shocked, to say the least. He knew how much Lula cared, but Jack had been perfecting that mask of his he wore onstage for two years. It was like Lula was the only one to see through it, see the emotions painted across his face with every word and movement. 

"Sorry Wilder, it's just -"

"I get it. It's ok, it means a lot that you care enough to give one."

"How'd you know about how she feels like the odd one out sometimes?"

"Lula talks in her sleep," Jack said with a shrug, already sounding like his easy-going self again. "I've gotta practice, but tomorrow? You're getting the Stall down, at least." He headed up the stairs, already flicking one card back and forth from each hand. 

"But we haven't even practiced the Stall for two weeks!"


	2. Dylan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the Sunday a month after New Year's, and Dylan thinks it's about time to sit down Jack to have a little discussion about his relationship with Lula.

It had been a month and a half since they’d stepped out of the shadows and revealed Walter Mabry to the rest of the world. A month and a half since New Year’s Day.

And on that Sunday morning, Dylan decided it was time for a little discussion with Jack about his relationship with Lula.

“Jack, mind sitting down real quick?” Dylan said, taking a long drink from his mug of coffee that morning, feeling the hot liquid slide down his throat, warming him inside out from the chill that plagued him since he’d almost drowned. He still woke up in the middle of night, feeling the phantom streams trickle in and around his ankles, the air being pressed out of his lungs by the unforgiving grasp of the water. He woke up cold, goosebumps poking up from his skin that wouldn’t go away until he focused his mind away from the eternity of blackish blue that he’d sunk down in, almost died in.

“Ok,” Jack said, pouring himself his own cup. “Anything on your mind?”

“Yeah,” Dylan said, pausing to have another sip. He couldn’t function in the morning without at least two cups of black liquid caffeine. “You and Lula, you’ve been together for about a month now, haven’t you?”

“About, yeah. Any particular reason that you’re asking this, and maybe mind cluing me in?”

“I’m happy for the two of you. I think you’re good together, and I don’t want anything to happen that ends up the both of you getting hurt. And if anything happens, I really don’t want Lula to be the one who gets hurt.” Dylan said all this slowly, not wanting to do what he had done before with Danny: rush through it and end up getting into (yet another) argument with the most argumentative of the Horsemen. 

“I understand, I really do. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, least of all Lula. I really like her, I don’t want anything to happen. I don’t want to ruin this relationship, I don’t want to mess this up like all the others, you know?” Jack said, flicking his eyes towards the pool room, where Lula was swimming laps.

“You know I see us as a family, right?”

“Don’t know where you’re going with this, but sure.”

You, Merritt, and Danny: you’re like the trio of brothers. Merritt and Lula are kind of like twins, Danny and Lula are, well, I still don’t know what they are. Distant siblings, I guess. And you and her, you’re the couple that everyone’s cheering on right now. I just don’t want us to start cheering you on to break up, if things get bad.”

Jack sat silent for a few moments, his face set in that mask only Lula was able to see past, the mask of emotionless silence.

“Do you really believe that?” Jack said, breaking the palpable tension. “Do you really think that one day, you’ll be wanting us to break up?”

“God, I hope not. That’s the last thing I want, but -“

“Because I love her.”

The words of Jack’s declaration filled Dylan’s vision, like a clearing smokescreen. It all appeared so clear in his mind, how he’d seemed to Jack: a guy who’d brought them all together, brought Jack together with Lula, supported and encouraged their relationship, told them they were good together, and was suddenly saying that they seemed destined to fail. He’d heard them murmur the three words to each other dozens of times through the thin walls, between the sizzle and pops of the stove, between the flicking of playing cards back and forth, between the buckets of water and glitter dripping on the floor (and on each other) and makeshift Rube Goldbergs filling the air with dings and clanks (they always seemed to lead onto Jack - Lula and Merritt were too good at teaming up for pranks). It was different, hearing Jack say it out loud but not toward Lula, hearing him say it without it directed to someone in the room. Dylan realized it was because there was no reaction: no response, no action, no slow smile. 

“You love Lula?”

“Yes,” Jack said, looking down into his coffee cup. Dylan knew it wasn’t a lie, Jack normally ducked his head when he felt vulnerable. Admitting that you loved someone, putting your emotions out there for everyone to see? That was one of the most vulnerable things a person could ever do. 

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. Drink your coffee, make another pot, throw some cards, do whatever. But Jack?”

“Yeah, Dylan?

“Don’t expect this to be the last little talk about you and Lula with someone. I saw Grandma eyeing you last night at dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, and thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter; I wanted to expand on all of the little talks that the group gives to Jack. If you have any reviews/requests/prompts, please leave them down in the comments below! Thanks!


	3. Danny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Danny's turn to give Jack a little talking-to.

“Jack, get in here.” Danny said, jerking his head towards the bedroom Lula and Jack shared.

  
“Uh, okay,” he replied before being shoved roughly through the entryway. “Danny, what’s going on?”

  
“You and Lula,” Danny said, his body fixated in all sharp angles and lines: arms crossed, elbows jutted out, eyebrows drawn, mouth a straight line, shoulders pressed back and tense, spine straight. “Don’t fuck it up.” He gave a swift exhale, looking down at Jack from his slight height advantage, keeping his lips pressed together tightly.

  
“Thanks man. Wanna elaborate on what the hell that means?”

  
“I like you guys together. So don’t fuck it up.”

  
“Wow, that was vague as hell. How exactly am I screwing up my relationship right now?”

  
“You’re not. But you might. And I don’t want that to happen. Lula’s good, she’s good as a Horseman, she’s good in the group, she’s a good person. And I don’t want to see her get hurt and leave like Henley did.” Danny took a deep breath before meeting Jack’s eyes.

  
“Henley was frustrated with the Eye, like we all were, and I didn’t help. I never made a move, I never tried to do what I should have and now she’s gone. And I love Lula, I’m glad she’s here, and I don’t want her to leave too, damnit! So don’t fuck up your relationship, ok?” He was panting by the end of his speech, leaving Jack wide-eyed. Danny rarely allowed anyone to see any uncontrolled emotion: the stiff posture he held wasn’t just for show, he needed it to hold himself together throughout the entire conversation. Jack still hadn’t said anything, as though he was processing all of what had just happened.

  
“Jack, do you get it? Don’t hurt Lula, don’t fuck up your goddamn relationship, because if you do, and I swear to God that if you do, I’ll kill you. And I’m fairly certain that everyone else will back me up when I do.”

  
“Thanks for the warning and the death threat man. But trust me Danny, I’m not planning on screwing this relationship up. I love her, you know? I love Lula, and I don’t want her to leave either. Just as much as the rest of you.”

  
“Good,” Danny said, giving a sharp nod. “Don’t mention this conversation, or I’ll use the IOU I have with Mer and make him hypnotize you into dumping water on yourself every twenty minutes.”

  
“Understood.”

  
“Now get out.”

  
“This is my room.”

  
“Ah. Then I’m leaving.” Danny left the room quickly, closing the door to his own and leaning his back against it, still slightly out of breath from the intensity of the conversation he had just had.

  
Jack seemed slightly used to the conversation they’d just had, like he’d had one before. Dylan probably had talked to him, had given him a warning. Of course he had. Danny remembered all too vividly the talk Dylan gave him about Henley, rushing through it more awkwardly than he’d ever seen the fifth Horseman ever act.

  
Well, he hoped that two talks would be enough to drum the warnings to not hurt Lula into Jack’s brain. And he’d end the sleight of hand happily if it wasn’t.


	4. Li

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grandma needs to speak to Jack about his relationship with Lula. Li's presence is purely to keep things civil (by this he means to keep Grandma from murdering Jack).
> 
> Hey, Li never said he was good at everything.

It was Tuesday and Danny, Merritt, and Lula had cleared out of the mansion that day to get some fresh air (it’d been raining and they’d all been trapped inside together the past week) and to not drive each other insane. Dylan and Jack had opted to stay behind, Jack because of his allergies acting up due to the stirring up of pollen thanks to the rain, and Dylan because he didn’t want to hear the inevitable bickering that would persist between the three. Jack had just finished throwing cards from this deck, leaving a column of spades and diamonds on the kitchen table, and Li was practicing his slight of hand. Sure, he was one of the best (he was part of the Eye, after all) but it paid to stay sharp, especially with the criticism that came with the most argumentative Horsemen (read: Danny and Dylan - the two were unstoppable together but stopped everyone else in their tracks if need be, Danny poking holes in every magic trick someone pulled. Li still would like to see Danny pull the switch-bait he had had to do on the fly about seven times to keep the Horsemen out of Mabry’s elfin and devilish hands).

“Jack, come here.” Grandma spoke the command, not a question. She didn’t speak much, but when she did,  _you listened_. “Sit,” she instructed, pointing to a stool in front of where she and Li sat. 

“Ok,” Jack said, looking wary and mildly terrified. Li wasn’t surprised: his grandmother was one of the most terrifying people to encounter when she was giving relationship warnings.

“So, you take wallets?” Li leaned forward on his stool and rested his elbows on his knees.

“Oh God, not again.”

Grandma’s lips thinned. “You don’t get to talk right now. Do you take wallets or not?”

“Yeah, whenever I dated someone it always seemed to end up with me having an extra wallet and them having none. I’m not _proud_ of it.” He accentuated the way he said the last sentence, like a moment in trial where the way you wove your story and words together either broke any other testimonies, or it broke you.

Jack looked like he might be close to breaking.

“In the magic shop, it looked like Lula beat you at your own game.” Li couldn’t resist the smirk that appeared on his face at the memory. Grandma chuckled in her own soft way as well. She always spoke low and quiet, and not often, but it just made her more imposing when she  _did_  speak: strong and only when needed.

“Never doubt Lula,” Jack said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. God, the kid was in love so much that he was blind to what a dumbass he sometimes looked like. “She’ll beat anyone at their own game.”

“We know,” Li laughed as his mind dredged up the hilarious incidents of Lula besting Jack at his own prank on the shelves, Jack and Lula teaming up to prank Merritt on Dare Night, and Lula breaking into Danny’s apartment. The two together were a reckless pair of skills and schemes. He did not want to get on either of their bad sides, no matter how easy-going they could be. “We like her.”

“I would guess that, based on how she’s part of the Horsemen and all.”

“No snark, Mr. Wilder,” Grandma snapped, leaning forward as well. “You listen and listen well: Lula May is a good soul. The Strength card speaks with her, just as Death speaks with yours.”

“That’s what you wanna hear, especially when this is the third talk you’ve had in two days.”

“Third?” Li was annoyed. He was sure that they were going to be second. Of course, Dylan would be first - and Merritt was most likely the last. He’d seen the mentalist show up ‘on time’ before, and it was always late and last. Danny beat them to the punch? Odd. And annoying.

“You listen well, Jack Wilder!” Grandma was leaning close enough to Jack to be uncomfortable, her finger nearly touching the point between his eyes. Her eyebrows her furrowed, her voice dropped to an angry whisper. “We like Lula May, and we will not lose her due to an idiotic mistake you could make! So behave and don’t hurt her, or the Death card won’t speak to just your soul but to your physical presence!”

Li pressed his lips together, watching Jack shrink back as his eyes widened. All the confidence that Jack held for show was just that sometimes - a show. Li had been watching him for three years, he’d learned Jack’s ticks and tells. He also knew that he was just as afraid of messing something up as he was disappointing Dylan. But he’d never seen Jack look so skittish and afraid as he saw at that moment.

He really must love her.

“Think carefully, Mr. Wilder,” Grandma warned, shaking a finger slowly as she walked away, spine straight as she shuffled tarot cards.

“Jack, can we talk for a second?” Li asked, watching the twenty-four year old walk off with his head hanging. “I was supposed to be there to keep it civil. Well, not civil. Basically, I was there to make sure my grandmother didn’t murder you with her terror stare. Pantent pending.”

“Nice job.”

“Yeah, she was terrifying in there.”

“No shit,” Jack said, but his words lacked any luster. “She basically told me that if I screw up my relationship and Lula ends up leaving the Horsemen, she’ll murder me.”

“Yeah, it’s her way of showing love. When my mom brought home my dad? She was all sweet and kind, and the second my mom turned around and left the room for a minute, she told my dad that if he ever did anything to hurt her she’d cast a plague over his entire family and the generations to come, and she’d do him physical harm.” 

“Great,” Jack said, head still hanging low. 

“Jack, you know that we’re only telling you this because we want you two to succeed as a couple, right? You two are annoyingly perfect together. We just want you two to be happy, and after what happened on the plane-“ Jack’s head snapped up, anger flaring in his eyes. “We just want Lula to be ok after that, that's  _all_ we want. She was so shaken for weeks, and if anything happens it won’t just be her. Grandma and I, Dylan, Danny, Merritt too, we just want the two of you to have an annoyingly perfect ending to match how sickeningly adorable you are together.”

“Didn’t you have a bet with Merritt that we would get together?”

“Damn it that I lost those twenty bucks. My money was on you making the first move, but Merritt and Lula, they’re like twins so he always had the advantage. At least Danny lost money too.”

“You have an interesting way of perking yourself up after losing money.” Jack shook his head, a faint pink blush creeping up the back of his neck and to his ears. “Thanks for the talk though. You know I won’t screw it up, right?”

“Yeah man, I know. And if I’m wrong, I lose thirty bucks.”

“Who made  _this_  bet?”

“Danny.”

“Damn him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thank you for reading! I know it's been a few days since I've updated anything (sorry!) but I do have good reason - I currently have no WiFi where I am. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! The next and final chapter will be up soon, and if you have any suggestions/requests/comments/reviews, please leave them in the comments section below! Thanks!
> 
> -Night

**Author's Note:**

> Hi and thank you for reading! This is my first fic from Merritt's point of view, so I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any reviews or suggestions or requests, please let me know down in the comments. Thanks!!


End file.
